Top 7 Themes in Techstars Global Startup Weekend 2017

You’ve been hearing a lot about Techstars Global Startup Weekend lately… and rightfully so! With 200+ events in 60+ countries, this is the world’s largest entrepreneurial celebration. Odds are there’s going to be an event taking place in a city near you.With all of the entrepreneurship events going on during Global Entrepreneurship Week, the motives behind the local community leader’s ambitions and efforts are fascinating. After all, it’s the organizer’s passion for community building, innovation, and entrepreneurship that brings each Techstars Global Startup Weekend event to life. These are the top themes organizers picked this year.

1. Uni (University)

Are entrepreneurs born or made? With so much interest in entrepreneurship around the world, universities are consciously making an effort to be part of the entrepreneurial journey of their students. With Techstars Startup Weekend being held on college and university campuses in 8 different cities this year, Uni is our most popular theme.

2. Women

The main goal of having a women’s edition event is to encourage and inspire more female leaders in startup teams, and to connect more women to the resources and mentors available in startup communities. Organizers set out to actively recruit more women in the roles of participants, mentors, organizers and judges. Men are also welcome and are encouraged to bring a female friend or colleague to the event.

3. Youth & Kids

Exploring different themes around Techstars Startup Weekend doesn’t always mean reaching a new industry or vertical. In this case, it means reaching a new age. Youth events are aimed at 5th-8th graders and are similar to a typical Techstars Startup Weekend, but with more materials and guidance geared towards kids and young teens. Youth events are fun to watch and it’s pretty inspiring to see all the kids doing work, collaborating, and bringing ideas to life.

4. EDU (Education)

EDU events empower educators to collaborate with developers, designers, business experts, & other entrepreneurs passionate about education to build the next generation of education startups. The events also change the conversation in communities to not just identifying problems in education but also designing & developing real solutions.

5. Social Innovation & Sustainable Development

There is a perception floating around that only nonprofits can do social good. That is changing with an emerging type of business called a social enterprise. Entrepreneurs are creating solutions to improve everything from an individual’s quality of life to the state of the planet. At Techstars Startup Weekends the best and brightest are coming together to make the next big change.

6. Smart Cities & Smart Solutions

Everything is getting smarter. The tools we use at work, the products we use every day, so why not make the places we live smarter, too? Smart Cities are an urban development vision where cities are connected through information and communication technology, seeking to improve quality of life through these technologies. This is what the smart city movement happening around the world is looking to do. Check out the cities that are working on this theme:

Fintech is permanently shaping the way that consumers and financial institutions are interacting. It’s a move from closed to open, from centralized to distributed, and from ‘in a few days’ to now. If you’re thinking about machine learning, lending, digital banking solutions, trading, cyber security, data analytics, payments, cryptocurrency, insurance, wealth management and beyond, these events are for you:

Lucia Trochez(@lulutro) Lucia loves to travel, as International Marketing Manager, she focuses on helping startups around the world grow their presence and branding. Lucia studied Multimedia Engineering in Bogotá, Colombia, where she’s from.